The Word On The Wall

Gaga For Gagarin

2012-01-10T22:09:00.000Z

'Space cadets' offered a share of Gagarin's limelight AN independent filmmaker is offering British space enthusiasts the chance to add their names to a roll-call commemorating Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (pictured) – the first man to venture into Earth orbit. For a small sum star-struck cosmo-philes can get their name included

Hise Rise For Indies

2012-01-06T18:24:00.003Z

Hise on the rise – and he's taking indies with him An Arizona-based author's new website is looking to do rather more than promote his own work – he intends the site to become a vehicle to help drive the development of independent writers. More authors are turning to new technology to take their works to market, be they purely

Silas Sets Forth

2011-12-21T19:00:00.000Z

Signed with an Inspired Quill For a man who makes a living out of words, it's quite disconcerting to find myself suddenly speechless: still that's the effect a book deal can have on an author. Yes, that's right – a book deal. I am greatly pleased to say that my novel Silas Morlock has been taken on by up-and-coming publisher Inspired Quill (IQ) and is scheduled for release towards

Ripping Yarn

2011-12-18T14:00:00.001Z

Deep, dark and gruesome Third Sight By Ian Woodhead Reviewed by Mark Cantrell ONCE again the delightfully twisted mind of Ian Woodhead has concocted yet another cracking horror story – and this one really isn’t for the faint-hearted. Something demonic and nasty has latched onto Adrian and it’s going to kill everyone he knows and cares about unless he can figure out how to

Feel The Guilt

2011-12-15T21:35:00.000Z

Seeing Red and feeling Cross, this ‘charity’ has gone too far By Mark Cantrell THE letter landed on the doormat with all the urgency of a final demand, but this was no stern warning from some self-imposed authority barking a bellicose warning on the consequences of my fiscal shortcomings. No, this letter was a guilt trip, or maybe that should be a guilt trap: if there was any stick,

Feeling Peaky

2011-12-09T22:18:00.001Z

Dr Eurich Conquering the scourge of anthrax Back in 2002 (or thereabouts), a terror scare erupted after several people received mail contaminated with anthrax spores. In the wake of that, I found myself being interviewed on BBC Radio Leeds as an 'expert' thanks to the following article I'd written some years before. Fortunately, I was interviewed alongside a genuine expert. Aside from

A Word With Me

2011-12-03T17:29:00.001Z

Interviewed on Indies Unlimited Check out the blog Indies Unlimited for an interview with Mark Cantrell, the author of Citizen Zero. And once you've finished that, you might care to stick around and discover a wealth of indie authoring talent... Author Mark Cantrell has been told his writing demonstrates a certain dry humor, a cynical wit, and a tendency towards the darker view of

Life's Too Short

2011-11-25T21:42:00.001Z

Deus Ex Insomnia Orbital Decay By Mark Cantrell We orbit, Far away, but with each turn We spiral ever closer To the terminal point of doom. Behold it, in space-time Like the Reaper, cowled By the shattered remains Of matter & thought, Tumbling slow into the dark space Within. Closer now, we spin, Each of us in turn Tumbling towards that Dark Abyss At the end of our life's

Screw The King

2011-11-14T11:22:00.001Z

In the republic of the word By Mark Cantrell ONE of these days I’m going to start blogging. Hang on, though, isn’t this a blog? Well, no. Sure, it’s a blogging platform, but I started this site as a place to post my writing work rather than to actually blog per se. That’s why it’s filled with poems and fiction, newsy bits (the ones that catch my eye – a hangover from a writers’

Was Tebbitt A Spaceman?

2011-11-06T13:18:00.000Z

Visionary spaceman? Sign On To The Stars There's a fine line between visionary and madman, but in this 2005 article, Mark Cantrell wondered if Lord Tebbitt hadn't actually been beckoning us to a future among the stars when he famously declared 'on yer bike' FOR those old enough to remember, it's a staggering claim but Norman – now Lord –Tebbitt is destined to go down in history as one

Bite The Bullet

2011-10-28T19:32:00.005+01:00

You looking at me? OKAY, so unaccustomed as I am to letting a video camera steal a slice of my soul, I endured the glassy gaze for the sake of UKFast's roundtable discusion on the alleged death of traditional print and the rise of digital publishing. Here's the results. The discussion lasted a good hour and covered a lot of ground, so you obviously wouldn't want to sit through all that, so

Digital Screaming

2011-10-23T20:40:00.000+01:00

Take your fingers out of the dyke! As the nascent Indie publishing scene develops, its greatest challenge is not just to win the battle for respectability, writes Mark Cantrell – but also to avoid becoming a pale imitation of the big publishing corporates YEARS ago, I wrote that the “floodgates should be opened to a deluge of talent” and now it appears to be happening, but not in the

Dead Good In Brum

2011-10-20T22:15:00.001+01:00

In the city of the undead, novelty stirs Necropolis Rising By Dave Jeffrey Amazon (Kindle Edition) ASIN: B0042P53RY Publisher: Disturbed Earth (First Edition, September 2010) Review by Mark Cantrell ZOMBIE novels are ten a penny these days, often as not putting the lie into the claimed demand for originality by mainstream publishers, but every so often one of the

Then As Now

2011-10-16T00:14:00.001+01:00

Campaigning for the Right to Thrive By Mark Cantrell Matters have long been coming to a head. Many of the themes hitting our societies today -- politically, economically -- have been bubbling beneath the surface for years and are now bursting forth to see fists shaken in outrage at our corporate masters. Today's global protests and occupations, of Wall Street, of the London Stock

Poetry Crisis

2011-10-12T20:57:00.001+01:00

Homeless in the house of Keats By Mark Cantrell Poet Benjamin Zephaniah took in a group of homeless and vulnerably housed people to show them around Hampstead House, London, and lead them in a poetry workshop; all part of efforts to help them overcome their problems. The group were all involved with the Crisis Skylight London initiative, part of the charity Crisis’ effort to help

Poets Abroad

2011-10-08T21:35:00.000+01:00

Poetry Sans Atlantic Oscar Wilde once observed that the British and the Americans are two peoples separated by a common language. In this little 'blast from the past', two Bradford writers discovered that the language of poetry can bridge the divide... By Mark Cantrell BRUCE Barnes and Lynette Shaw McKone are no strangers to performance at West Yorkshire poetry venues, but their last

Seema's Jang

2011-09-13T22:15:00.004+01:00

Seema’s novel is Svera’s song Reading a novel by an author you know personally is fraught with dangers; all the more so when the novel in question is the author’s first. So Mark Cantrell approached Seema Gill’s Svera Jang with a certain sense of trepidation. What he discovered is a beautifully crafted novel about one woman’s resilience – and the strength of the human spirit Svera

Free Labour

2011-09-03T01:48:00.000+01:00

Free labour anyone? Towards a very British gulag Work for free? You must be joking! Sadly no. The British Government is working on normalising the practice of forced labour and it begins with an easy target – the unemployed. So much for an end to so-called welfare dependency, why should employers hire when they can take a free ride at the taxpayers' expense… By Mark Cantrell

Silver Winnings

2011-08-29T01:26:00.001+01:00

Silver bookmark in poetry prize POET laureate, Carol Ann Duffy (pictured) is to judge the Poetry Business Book & Pamphlet competition as the organisation marks its 25th anniversary. The Poetry Business has invited poets to submit a collection of 20-24 pages of poetry and the four first-stage winners will be given the chance to submit a full-length manuscript for book publication.

Poetry Competition

2011-08-28T00:57:00.000+01:00

Decanto calls for poems Time is running out on the latest international poetry competition organised by Decanto magazine but the deadline is far from critical just yet. The deadline for this year's Decanto Poetry Competition is 1 October 2011, with entries welcome from poets the world over. Poets aged 16 or over are encouraged to submit work in any style or on any subject. Poems must not

Contemplating Sin

2011-08-26T12:49:00.000+01:00

Sinners In Streaming Video "DON'T worry," he says, wiping the incessant perspiration from his face. He stands by the door, framed in the pale light filtering in through the window high above my head. His beady eyes stare out of his pudgy face with a doll's sincerity. Almost it hides his embarrassment. "Axel, they're going to burn me!" "It won't come to that." "No?" "It's just

About A Boy

2011-08-18T23:33:00.000+01:00

The Dear Leader sets the tone An Open Letter To David Cameron's Parents The following j'accuse has come my way and it seemed only fitting to post it here. Why should our great leaders be the only ones to stand in judgement of those whose loose morals have brought this country to the edge of mayhem? Read on... Dear Mr and Mrs Cameron, Why did you never take the time to

Take A Walk

2011-08-06T12:51:00.000+01:00

Take a walk on the zombiefied Ian Woodhead's brilliant novella brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'going clubbing it' and creates a worthy successor to The Unwashed Dead, writes Mark Cantrell Walking With Zombies By Ian Woodhead ASIN: B005BYX8VS Available From: Amazon IN Walking With Zombies, Ian Woodhead has once again shown himself to be a master of

The Unwashed Dead

2011-07-23T11:17:00.000+01:00

The dead are coming home in this dark tale of the ‘great unwashed’ Scream? I nearly went to Bradford. Mark Cantrell finds there’s an eerie air of the familiar to Ian Woodhead’s The Unwashed Dead, an enjoyable zombie horror that transports him back to the city he once called home… FOR all that I enjoy a good zombie romp, I often feel a certain sense of dismay at the extent to

Well Flash

2011-07-17T19:08:00.001+01:00

Short, sweet, and totally inspired A Flash of Inspiration A collection of incredibly short stories Edited by Helmy Kusuma Smashwords (Kindle, Sony, Nook and Apple devices) IT started as a bit of fun but then it got serious as plenty more people gathered to join the fray. Soon, everyone was crowding round to hurl words across the screen – but not just any old words. You might

Special Offer

2011-07-05T22:02:00.000+01:00

Sizzling deals in Smashwords’ Summer Sale THERE’S a smashing cut-price deal on my fiction titles throughout July in the Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale 2011 – and as an added bonus my poetry collection is available for free. The hard-hitting science fiction thriller CITIZEN ZERO is on sale at 75 per cent of its standard retail price with coupon code SSW75. In a terrifying

A Hari Ordeal

2011-07-04T21:38:00.001+01:00

The Cautionary Tale of Johann Hari Be careful what you write; be careful how you write. If anything, the sorry saga of Johann Hari, the Independent journalist accused of plagiarism, provides a cautionary note to those of us who like to attempt a certain literary flair with our journalism. By Mark Cantrell MISTAKES happen. When they do, we’re supposed to learn from them – if we

In Pontefract

2011-07-03T21:43:00.000+01:00

Yorkshire author shares his words TALK about a captive audience, but by all accounts the residents of a supported living scheme in Pontefract enjoyed the attention, when a local writers’ group chose the place for a launch event for its latest book. ‘Ponte-fact and fiction’ is the Write On Group’s fifth book. Local author Ian Clayton joined members of the group to presents stories

Dannye Williamsen

2011-06-28T18:00:00.012+01:00

Making a break for quality writing Dannye Williamsen, author and founder of the Breakthrough Bookstore, tells Mark Cantrell why she has chosen to redesign and re-launch the site with a focus on quality Indie authors WRITERS frequently have day jobs – the more unusual the better when it comes to compiling an intriguing biography for the book jackets – but Dannye Williamsen certainly

To Hell

2011-06-27T13:00:00.004+01:00

Hell is where the heart is The Devil's Lair is far too gruesome to be painted in mere gore, so don't expect 'torture porn' in this intelligently crafted fantasy, writes Mark Cantrell Title: Devil's Lair Author: David Wisehart Price: 71 pence Format: Kindle Source: Amazon ASIN: B003AOA4IQ Authors Website: davidwisehart.com | http://kindle-author.blogspot.com HELL is the

Divided Nation

2011-06-26T17:51:00.001+01:00

Re-building the pyramid that inters social justice Society’s social-structure was once said to have become diamond shaped, as most of us clustered in the so-called middle class, writes Mark Cantrell, but now it seems the traditional pyramid-form of class and wealth is making a come back – that’s if it ever truly went away IN the boom years before the economy crashed, it became

Nice Jam

2011-06-19T21:19:00.001+01:00

What's to do in Bradford? Category: GUEST

Tad Williams

2011-06-18T20:41:00.002+01:00

Timeless fantasy eschews myth for Medieval real Mark Cantrell re-visits a gargantuan tome that takes fantasy out of Tolkien's 'Heroic' age and propels into the rugged realism of medievalism Author: Tad Williams Format: Paperback Source: Amazon Authors Website: www.tadwilliams.com Title: Memory, Sorrow, Thorn Trilogy The Dragonbone Chair The Stone of Farewell Towards

Breached Horizons

2011-06-17T21:02:00.000+01:00

When Inspiration Takes Hold A Kind Of Prose Poem By Mark Cantrell THE words are out there somewhere: they hide like sinister malignancies in the shades of the mind. Lurking, until the moment comes to strike. Then, after the months of hunting and searching, when the author has finally given up in despair, they gush screaming from the void to bore into the victim's brain. And in that

Citizen Zero Reviewed

2011-06-02T20:58:00.000+01:00

Read the review on Inspired Quill “Ever since George Orwell penned 1984, since Aldous Huxley gave us Brave New World, dystopian future sci-fi has been a staple in the English-speaking world. But how do you follow up such literary classics without resulting in a hashed up mishmash of the two? Surely it would take a feat of unparalleled genius to put something new on the plate.”

Talking Shop

2011-05-30T22:55:00.000+01:00

The man behind the mayhem CITIZEN Zero author Mark Cantrell has featured on the ‘Woulds & Shoulds’ Editing & Design website in its Self Publishing Success series of interviews with indie authors and publishers. Published earlier this month, Mark was interviewed about his hard-hitting science fiction thriller, but also his wider thoughts on life as a novelist. He talks about books,

Poets-On-Sea

2011-05-22T22:28:00.001+01:00

Grab your knitting and get to Brid, there’s poetry in the air POET Laureate Carol Ann Duffy faces some stiff – well, rather more floppy – competition at her forthcoming gig since she’ll be up against the world’s largest knitted poem. Yes, you read that right: the world’s largest knitted poem. The poem in question is ‘In My Craft or Sullen Art’ by Dylan Thomas and it is to be

Word Aid

2011-05-14T21:59:00.000+01:00

Spare a word for charity A charity that provides emergency shelter and supplies for families around the world caught in disasters is to be the beneficiary of a poetry collection currently seeking submissions. Word Aid, a collective of published poets working to raise money for charity, is looking to assist Shelter Box with its latest collection to be themed around ‘Survival’. This

On Literature

2011-05-07T21:06:00.002+01:00

Inspiration set free to kindle your mind On Literature, Selected Journalism of Mark Cantrell, Volume 1 A collection of essays and feature articles dedicated to the world of the creative writer By Mark Cantrell FREE chapbook Available from Smashwords Formats: Kindle (.mobi), Sony Reader (.lrf), Open Industry Srandard (.epub), Palm devices (.pbd) and others FIRST

Book Fest

2011-05-07T20:49:00.000+01:00

Read up for the city of eight THE city of Lincoln is to host its eighth annual book festival next week with a top line-up of authors, poets, comedians – and even the odd politician. Festival patron, and former Poet Laureate 1999-2009, Andrew Motion will perform at the city’s Drill Hall, while other featured artists include: Brian Patten, Attila the Stockbroker, Ian McMillan, and

Digital Dealing

2011-05-07T20:34:00.000+01:00

Scroll on up for the latest smashing words DIGITAL publisher and distributor Smashwords has signed a deal with the largest supplier of branded apps in the iTunes App Store, opening up a wider potential audience for independent authors and publishers. Under the deal, ScrollMotion will create, promote, merchandise and distribute Smashwords ebooks as mobile applications across a variety

May Day Book Offer

2011-04-30T20:59:00.000+01:00

Something for the weekend Special May Day weekend offer on Citizen Zero Mark Cantrell's hard-hitting science fiction thriller and political satire, Citizen Zero, is available at the subversively low-price of $0.99 (around 60 pence) for the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, iPad, Nook and other popular devices only from Smashwords. "On the security monitors, he watched the city burn. The

Royal Wedding Tribute

2011-04-29T00:56:00.000+01:00

No fools like Royal fools in these days of Coalition austerity THIS is a Festival of Fools – and it seems we the British public are most foolish for this Royal Wedding as we gawp in idiotic delight at the spectacle of sickening subservience to symbolic serfdom. After all, is not Kate Middleton a Commoner (yes, I believe with a capital C), in such terms was William's mother – Lady –

Taking Stockton

2011-04-25T01:37:00.001+01:00

Competition win is cool as Iceton SOMEHOW it seems a shame the prize wasn’t a house, but then that is perhaps a bit much even for a writing competition organised by a housing association. As it is, the winning writer has won recognition for her work – and a nifty £500 cash prize. Tracey Iceton, 33, from Stockton, was stunned to win the Bohouse Writing Competition, organised by the North

Buy Deus Ex Insomnia

2011-04-25T01:37:00.000+01:00

Buy Isolation Space

2011-04-25T01:28:00.000+01:00

This thrilling collection of science fiction, fantasy, horror and thought-provoking satire is available in paperback and digital editions from the following retail outlets: Barnes & Noble | Diesel eBooks | Lulu Amazon (UK) | Amazon (US) Smashwords

Trailer Parks

2011-04-24T20:55:00.000+01:00

Novel launched with trailer competition BOOK trailers are becoming an ever-more popular phenomenon so when novelist Adele Parks decided to create one for her latest work, she called in students from the University of Teeside to put one together on her behalf. The trailer promotes Parks’ 11th novel, ‘About Last Night’ and it was put together by a team of students from the School of Arts &

Buy Citizen Zero

2011-04-18T20:11:00.001+01:00

The hard-hitting science fiction thriller is available from the following retail outlets: Barnes & Noble | Diesel eBook Store | Lulu Amazon UK | Amazon US Smashwords | Sony eBook Store Category: PLUGGED

Yawning Review

2011-04-09T10:54:00.000+01:00

The grave case of the detective clown Beginning an irregular series of book reviews, Mark Cantrell takes a walk through the curiously undead streets of Greasetown Title: When Graveyards Yawn (2002) Author: G Wells Taylor Price: FREE Format: Kindle (plus other device formats) Source: Many Books (www.manybooks.net) Authors Website: www.gwellstaylor.com, www.wildclown.com The

A Quick Rant

2011-04-04T20:09:00.000+01:00

Click for story The wrong kind of people READING this left me simmering with anger. Here's the story in the local newspaper of my old home town, the Telegraph & Argus, about plans to regenerate a so-called slum estate. I used to work in an office block literally on the corner of the estate. A good friend of mine lived there. It wasn't a ghetto or a slum, but a quiet estate with a

Isolation Space Reviewed

2011-03-29T21:32:00.000+01:00

What Hungur has to say about Isolation Space Review by Terrie Leigh Relf, editor, Hungur Magazine Mark Cantrell’s Isolation Space: A Melange of Short Fiction, is, as its title and content reveals, a medley of twenty short stories that will challenge, disturb, fascinate, provoke, sicken, and otherwise engross readers. They may even incite you to foment change! If you love

FREE Sample

2011-03-29T20:12:00.001+01:00

Restored on Scribd: A substantial FREE sample of the hard-hitting novel Citizen Zero A dystopian glimpse at a future born in an age of austerity and political uncertainty, CITIZEN ZERO is a gripping social satire that exposes our deepest fears, and presents a grave warning to any society that abandons the pursuit of social justice. The novel presents a grim future of a society broken by

Defying Austerity

2011-03-26T22:33:00.000Z

This country shall not break nor bend to Tory toffs The story of austerity entered another chapter today, when tens of thousands of ordinary working people took to the streets of London for a show of strength. Britain shall not be broken, they declared. Cameron and his crony Clegg should take note, writes Mark Cantrell, this is not a nation eager to doff the cap to plutocrats and toffs

FREE For eBook Week

2011-03-06T11:02:00.001Z

' 'Buy' CITIZEN ZERO -- but don't pay a penny For this week, the hard-hitting science fiction thriller and political satire, CITIZEN ZERO, is available FREE from Smashwords. To mark eBook Week, the author is giving the title away to all-comers. Download the book for the Kindle, Sony Reader, and other popular e-reading devices by using the code MM72B. That's MM72B -- enter the code when

On Air In Bradford

2011-03-05T14:05:00.000Z

Laugh, I nearly went home... You can't take this pair anywhere, or as Joe likes to say: "Yes you can, the second time to apologise!" Category: GUEST

Bohemian In Middlesbrough

2011-02-15T20:09:00.000Z

Is there a writer in the house? FOR some years now, housing associations in the UK have been doing a lot more than providing low-cost – well, relatively low-cost – homes, though that may be coming to an end thanks to Government reforms – but that's another story. A case in point that illustrates this 'mission creep', if you want to think of it in those terms, is the launch today of a

SOS For May Day

2011-02-07T21:00:00.000Z

Dave 'I hate Morris Dancers' Cameron ‘Oy, Dave – leave our day alone! THERE’S something rather curious about David Cameron’s desire to abolish the May Day bank holiday. Out of all the possible public holidays, why did he choose this one? It is unlikely that the Prime Minister suffers some aversion to this traditional holiday, caused perhaps by a traumatic childhood encounter with a

Zephaniah Gigs With Dead Poet

2011-02-04T19:48:00.000Z

Benjamin is "cool" with Keats "THIS is cool," said poet Benjamin Zephaniah as he looked forward to his next gig. "I've always wanted to work with Keats, and now my time has come." Well, not literally because John Keats died of tuberculosis back in 1820, but the renowned British-Jamaican Rastafarian is to work with the dead poet in the literary sense, since he'll be taking on the role

Fighting The Cuts

2011-01-23T11:27:00.005Z

Government all set to abolish a generation of young people But trade unionists and students are rallying to resist the cuts STUDENTS are among the many who are being hit hard by the Conservative-led, LibDem-enabled Coalition Government. Combined with the rising youth unemployment figures, considering the impetus and encouragement that has been given to young people in recent years to get

With A Little Help From A Friend

2011-01-19T20:00:00.003Z

Healthcare reform: creating a system fit for the 1920s Doctor Dave and Nurse Nick are ready to see you now... Are you sure you can afford the price of the treatment? Category: POLITICS

Wot, no Kindle?

2011-01-09T19:26:00.001Z

Free apps make a Kindle of a phone or PC You don't need a Kindle device to read a Kindle ebook, provided you install one of a range of applications that can be downloaded from Amazon free of charge. The online retailer has created a range of apps that will enable devices to read ebooks formatted for the Kindle. These include: Apple's iPhone, Windows PCs, Apple Macs, iPad, and Android OS

A Very Uncivil Disturbance

2011-01-09T19:12:00.002Z

In the future, everyone will be a subversive for 15 minutes... Hard-hitting science fiction thriller and political satire spreads through the online world with a host of popular ebook formats... CITIZEN ZERO, the hard-hitting novel by author and journalist Mark Cantrell, is now available to buy for some of today's most popular e-reading devices, such as the Amazon Kindle and the Sony

Digital Fiction

2011-01-09T18:43:00.000Z

Don't be isolated, read it on the device of your choice Fantastic fiction collection is available for a host of popular e-reading devices... First published as a paperback edition, ISOLATION SPACE has now gone digital after being published in a wide range of popular e-book formats. The new digital editions can be bought and downloaded from Amazon's Kindle Store and Smashwords for a host

Digital Editions

2011-01-06T20:16:00.001Z

A great deal on digital First published as a paperback collection, Deus Ex Insomnia is now available in a range of digital editions. The poetry collection, which also includes several creative essays pondering the nature of the literary experience, can now be purchased for the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader, Palm and a host of other devices. Deus Ex Insomnia is the début poetry collection by

Good Cause

2010-12-31T13:49:00.001Z

Stroke support is a flying zip across the river THE things people do for charity – this is probably not one for vertigo sufferers – but the Stroke Association is organising a 250-metre charity fund-raising zip slide over the river Irwell in February. Strokes are the UK’s third biggest killer, with 120,000 people in the UK suffering their first stroke every year, according to the charity

New Source For Free Downloads

2010-12-05T21:06:00.003Z

Sensational poetry and thrilling fiction The following chapbooks and fiction samples are now available to download free from the file-sharing site, Mediafire. So, click on the titles of the works below to download your copy of these free PDF ebooks: In The Words Of Chairman Me (poetry chapbook) By Mark Cantrell First published in 2004 A somewhat tongue-in-cheek presentation of Mark’s

New Source For Citizen

2010-11-30T23:06:00.002Z

Download and get reading For those who might be a little reluctant to sign up to Scribd to download the substantial free sample of the hard-hitting political SF thriller Citizen Zero, then the A5 PDF ebook can now be downloaded from the file sharing site Mediafire. Follow the link below to download Citizen Zero: ! Get Your Citizen Zero Sample Here ! The original sample version can still

Horror Is Not Just For Halloween

2010-11-30T21:01:00.000Z

Vampires, Zombies and Ghosts, Oh My! (And other creatures of the night stories) Presenting a collection of spine-tingling tales, this anthology from NoTreeBooks features 16 stories from 13 artists of the macabre, including Mark Cantrell's tale of vampire revenge, Baron Blood. Edited by Eve Paludan, the anthology is available exclusively in digital format, covering a host of

Auction For Shelter

2010-11-21T21:55:00.000Z

Home is where the art is Homelessness charity Shelter is auctioning specially commissioned artworks from some of the world's top artists to help raise awareness – and funds – for its campaigning work. The organisation has won the support of 52 renowned artists and designers to create an exclusive exhibition of works intended to highlight the UK's housing crisis and its human plight.

Game For A Book

2010-11-21T11:35:00.001Z

Museum publisher seeks writing on games Everything games is the theme of a new book set to be published by Edinburgh’s MuseumsEtc, edited by Katy Beale, and written from an international perspective. Gaming is a serious business, and in its call for submissions, the publishers are looking for case studies, essays, opinion pieces and similar kinds of serious work written to between 2,000 and

So It Goes

2010-11-08T20:54:00.000Z

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist." Archbishop Hélder Câmara Category: QUOTE

Horror For Halloween

2010-10-27T19:54:00.000+01:00

New anthology promises shivers and thrills this Halloween A vampire tale with an unexpected twist, Baron Blood by Mark Cantrell, finds itself keeping excellent company in the latest offering from ebook publisher NoTreeBooks. The ebook, which is available on Amazon's Kindle as well as a host of other popular formats and devices, pulls together 16 startling tales by 13 authors. Horror

News From The Frontline

2010-10-13T21:51:00.001+01:00

The British Prime Minister is about to ‘meet his maker’ Austerity sets the scene for a disturbing vision of the future THE Coalition Government’s austerity programme of spending cuts and welfare reform is inadvertently setting the scene to a hard-hitting political thriller just published as an ebook on Lulu. Citizen Zero, by author and journalist Mark Cantrell, is a dystopian social

Trouble & Strife

2010-09-29T18:51:00.000+01:00

The War That Hides Its Face By Mark Cantrell Fighters, everyone, all of us, In a civil war, so old, So all-encompassing, that it is Seldom noticed, by those caught In its fray, But when it is considered, this ugly Cruel reality, Even then, Seldom is it recognised For what it truly is. We, the combatants, struggling to survive, To make ends meet, Accept this blind constant war As

Now Available On Kindle

2010-09-25T18:47:00.002+01:00

Poetry so good it'll wake the dead A collection of poetry and prose by Mark Cantrell is now available as an ebook for the Kindle and other ‘Kindle-enabled’ devices courtesy of Amazon. Deus Ex Insomnia is available from the online retailer’s Kindle Store for $3.99 (Link: Amazon.com) and £2.96 in the UK (Link: Amazon.co.uk). The paperback edition (ISBN: 978—1-84753-507-8) was first

As If One Is Not Enough...

2010-09-11T11:19:00.000+01:00

Category: PLUGGED

Somehow Prophetic?

2010-09-09T20:56:00.000+01:00

Free For All

2010-09-04T11:51:00.001+01:00

Sweet Liberty By Mark Cantrell They locked away Sweet Liberty For Crimes Against Humanity. She was raving mad, you see, Poor dear, Believed people were born to be free. Left at that, Would be no sin, But she added a dreadful caveat: The poor are people too, She cried. And so she sealed her fate. Our Lords replied, not so: An exclusive club is Freedom, Only for the Rich, So,

Out Now On Lulu

2010-08-07T22:53:00.000+01:00

In a world born of austerity... A man with a grudge, A dangerous conspiracy, A divided society, teetering on the edge of chaos, All it needs is a shove... Citizen Zero The explosive political thriller by Mark Cantrell Out now on Lulu The future is what we make it today... A dystopian glimpse at a future born in an age of austerity and political uncertainty, with

Young, Pregnant And Dumped

2010-08-07T13:04:00.000+01:00

A welcome addition to Summer reading When her boyfriend dumped her after she got pregnant with his child, Laura Pauley didn't mope about -- she wrote a book about it. Journalist Claire Stapleton reviews My Summer Bump, a baby book with a difference AN honest and personal account of her experiences, and easy reading too, My Summer Bump is a non-fiction diary that shows how a 23-year-old

The Time Has Come

2010-07-18T22:25:00.000+01:00

In this Age of Austerity, do we walk in the shadow of Citizen Zero? TIME waits for no man – even less for a novel – and with events as they are, it has become all the more frustrating to experience the arduous process of finding a publisher in an era that seems perfect bound for my novel Citizen Zero. They say that what goes around comes around, and this certainly seems to be the case

Looking Forward

2010-07-03T12:25:00.000+01:00

Future Proof By Mark Cantrell The future Is a consensual hallucination, Forever refreshed Here in that ever-present Floating bubble That is the constricted neck Of Time. There, We seek tomorrow, We invent the anticipation Of what is to come, Based on the amnesia Of yesterday. In truth, The future is forever Out of reach, For it truly exists Only now. Mark Cantrell,

Submissions Wanted

2010-07-02T21:45:00.000+01:00

Written in stone Ireland’s ‘Stony Thursday Book’ is calling for submissions to the ninth edition which will be published in October this year. Poets from beyond the country’s shores are welcome to send in up to six poems for consideration. The publication of the next issue will be published to coincide with Cuisle, Limerick City International Poetry Festival, which runs from 13-16 October

Love Thy Neighbour

2010-06-27T16:14:00.001+01:00

Do unto others as you would have done unto you The ongoing saga of conflict and oppression is a tragedy for the Palestinian people, but it is also a tragedy for Israel; one that keeps it incarcerated in the dark shadows of the past, writes Mark Cantrell WARNING: The article features images that are emotive and potentially upsetting. Will the Holocaust never end? Will Israel ever crawl

Latest Publications

2010-06-19T12:19:00.000+01:00

Double your money TWO poems by Mark Cantrell are published in the latest issue of Awen, edited by D.J Tyrer from Atlantean Publishing. ‘Conscientious Objector’ and ‘Under Star Fall’, two thought provoking and personal works, are there to share in the June issue (64) of the bi-monthly small press poetry journal. For more information and to order a copy of Awen, visit:

Olympics Exploited

2010-06-06T18:26:00.001+01:00

Slavery is not an Olympian ideal It’s a small price to pay for Olympic glory – 14 pence an hour – but cutting costs and boosting profits is what business is all about. Some people, however, might well consider it slavery; certainly, it isn’t in keeping with the expectations of the Olympian spirit of fair play and sportsmanship. That’s why journalists are being asked to look behind the

Playfair 2012 campaign

2010-06-06T18:20:00.000+01:00

This Is The Day

2010-05-31T14:10:00.000+01:00

Help Needed By Mark Cantrell Mondays, They’re my favourite days, The best of days, For the brand new week they bring, Waking up on the morn’, brings That bright and breezy joy: Thank God it’s Monday, I cry For it all begins again. When Friday comes, I’m so forlorn, Why oh why, can it not be Monday? When every day’s a Monday, Every day is bliss, That’s why everyday is Monday, In

Going, Going, Gordon

2010-05-07T19:06:00.000+01:00

In The End By Mark Cantrell Flesh rots Bone crumbles Soul shrivels Time itself turns to dust This is the fate of all things Even this Cosmos vast But one thing is truly Eternal Our foolish faith in Hope. (Or should that be stupidity?) But Gordon, dear, dear Gordon, He clings on to the very bitterest end... Mark Cantrell, Manchester, 7 May 2010 Copyright © March 2010. All

Radical Voices

2010-04-27T19:44:00.001+01:00

Chartist poetry will rabble rouse again RADICAL poetry from the era of the Chartists will speak out once more for the democratic rights of ordinary people at a memorial lecture held to celebrate May Day – the International Day of Workers. ‘Till the Struggle is O’er: The Poetry of Chartism’ by Dr Mike Sanders forms the inaugural Frow Memorial Lecture, held in Salford this Saturday.

Are We Nearly There Yet?

2010-04-17T20:19:00.000+01:00

Hanging On By Mark Cantrell Life, Hanging around, Waiting to die, Everything else Is just killing Time. Mark Cantrell, Stoke-on-Trent, 11 February 2010 Copyright © February 2010. All Rights Reserved. Category: POETRY

Consider This

2010-04-17T20:16:00.000+01:00

Bumpy Summer Book

2010-04-03T12:12:00.001+01:00

Young, pregnant – and dumped WHEN Laura Pauley found herself pregnant, she also found herself homeless and out of a job in rapid order after her boyfriend – and the father of her child – told her he didn’t want to know. Rather than mope around, Laura has written her experience in a book due for release shortly. ‘My Summer Bump’ details her sudden change of circumstance, charts her

Medieval Modern

2010-03-21T12:22:00.000Z

Browsing the shelves of literature past THE words people commit to paper – or parchment – in the past tell us volumes about the world they lived in. This isn’t just the personal letters, diaries, proclamations of state and other historical documents, but the works of literature too. Novels, sagas, plays, though fiction, often portray the life and times of the authors, offering a window

Temporary Measures

2010-03-13T11:45:00.000Z

Shame of the City of Film BY all accounts an empty shop unit in Bradford is set to find temporary use as a city centre cinema; ironic, given that across the road stands an iconic piece of the city’s architecture that was built for that very purpose. Only in Bradford, one might think, can a temporary cinema be established near to the real thing, and you might be right, but this is either an

It's Life, Sim, But Not As We Know It

2010-03-07T13:07:00.003Z

After First Contact, please wash your hands BE careful where you step, should you ever find yourself setting foot on some distant world in the heroic quest to meet and greet the new galactic neighbours. That pile of goo you tread in might turn out to be one of the natives – and you wouldn’t want to be the first emissary of the human race to end up scraping the host off the heels of your

Slamming Burlesque

2010-03-06T20:36:00.001Z

Learn how to slam THE ‘self-styled Amy Winehouse’ of poetry will lead a workshop on the art of competitive slamming on the weekend of World Poetry Day later this month. Sophia Blackwell will appear at Temple Newsam House, Leeds, on 20 March to show wannabe slammers the tricks of the trade. The event will offer plenty of chances for people to write and focus on their own work during the

New Deal For Old Books

2010-02-26T20:15:00.000Z

Kindling a new interest in 19th Century literature THE British Library has signed a deal with Amazon to resurrect tens of thousands of out of print books and make them available to a modern audience. Under the deal, some 65,000 works of 19th Century literature, covering fiction, poetry and philosophy, will become available either for free download as e-books, or in paperback as

Words of Praise

2010-02-21T11:36:00.000Z

BOOK REVIEW: Writers’ Muse #50 August 2009 ISOLATION SPACE, A Melange of Short Fiction By Mark Cantrell £9.99 Published By Lulu (www.lulu.com) ISBN: 978-1-4092-7030-0 Jim Palmer, Editor of Writers' Muse Magazine, presents his verdict of the anthology Isolation Space by Mark Cantrell. The review first appeared in #50 (August 2009) of the magazine A couple of short stories in this excellent

Questions That Need Answers

2010-02-21T11:30:00.001Z

Poetry on trial The case for the defence will be cross-examined by a panel of poets, who will debate the removal of Carol Ann Duffy’s poem ‘Education for Leisure’ from the school curriculum. Hosted by the Leeds Salon, the debate ‘In Defence of Poetry’ is a joint event by The Poetry Business and The Cadaverine Magazine. It will take place on Wednesday, 10 March 2010 from 6.15pm (for an 8.30pm